Joseph Smith (Paul Wuthrich) and Martin Harris (Lincoln Hoppe), at work on the translation of the Book of Mormon in a scene from the Interpreter Foundation\u2019s forthcoming theatrical film, \u201cWitnesses.\u201d\u00a0 Still photograph by James Jordan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I return yet again to Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter,\u00a0Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon<\/em>\u00a0(Provo: BYU Studies, 2018).<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
This extract comes from a letter written by Martin Harris Jr. to President George A. Smith, dated 9 July 1875:<\/p>\n
He has continued to talk about and testify to the truth of the Book of Mormon, and was in his happiest mood when he could get somebody to listen to his testimony. . . .\u00a0 We begin to think that he has borne his last testimony.\u00a0 The last audible words he has spoken were something about the three witnesses of the book of Mormon but we could not understand what it was.\u00a0 (509)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
William Homer gave this description of Martin Harris\u2019s final moments.\u00a0 Martin died at 7:45 PM on 10 July 1875, in Clarkston, Utah:<\/p>\n
I stood by the bedside holding the patient\u2019s right hand and my mother at the foot of the bed.\u00a0 Martin Harris had been unconscious for a number of days.\u00a0 When we first entered the room the old gentleman appeared to be sleeping.\u00a0 He soon woke up and asked for a drink of water.\u00a0 I put my arm under the old gentleman, raised him, and my mother held the glass to his lips.\u00a0 He drank freely, then he looked up at me and recognized me.\u00a0 He said, \u201cI know you.\u00a0 You are my friend.\u201d\u00a0 He said, \u201cYes, I did see the plates on which the Book of Mormon was written; I did see the angel; I did hear the voice of God; and I do know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, holding the keys of the Holy Priesthood.\u201d\u00a0 This was the end.\u00a0 Martin Harris, divinely-chosen witness of the work of God, relaxed, gave up my hand.\u00a0 He lay back on his pillow [\u201che gasped two or three times for his breath\u201d] and just as the sun went down behind the Clarkston mountains, the soul of Martin Harris passed on.\u00a0 When Martin Harris, Jr., and his wife returned to the house they found that their father had passed away, but in passing, Martin Harris, favored of God, repeated an inrefutable [sic<\/em>] testimony of the divine inspiration and the prophetic genius of the great Prophet, Joseph Smith.\u00a0 (510-511)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I return yet again to Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter,\u00a0Martin Harris: Uncompromising Witness of the Book of Mormon\u00a0(Provo: BYU Studies, 2018). \u00a0 This extract comes from a letter written by Martin Harris Jr. to President George A. Smith, dated 9 July 1875: He has continued to talk about and testify to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[56,259,1809,16217,16269,16272,316,319,16164,380,2905,7980,1570,788,55,4357,1573,5688],"class_list":["post-88064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-book-of-mormon","tag-book-of-mormon-witnesses","tag-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints","tag-clarkston","tag-death-bed","tag-final","tag-gold-plates","tag-golden-plates","tag-iowa","tag-joseph-smith","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-lucy-harris","tag-martin-harris","tag-mormon","tag-mormonism","tag-tabernacle","tag-testimony","tag-three-witnesses"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Wuthrich](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2020\/09\/118044288_924459414721682_60936432080569527_n.jpg\")
<\/a>